The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-05-27

Tft0Nt hftU Which, Atht hAttG ~Nltts ~
thrice happy Spain, wherein are born
children and men ready armed. The
Toledo blades are highly esteemed in
England. as own by several passages
in Ben .JonsoB. Butler and Shakespeare
Ii Is scarcely necessary 10 say that the
eSpadds 70te,ioads were Il less priced
in Spain.
The author of the vida de Lazuilie
de Tornes. : whe wrote in 1925. thus
causes a Tole,lan squire, who served
his hero. to speak Of sworl: %. If
thou only knewest. boy. what weapon
! have hcrei Notfor All the yellow gol,t
in the world would | sell It; for in all
the blades that Antonio hath wrought.
none equaleth this one"
The steel used hy the cspaderos Of
Madrid WAS obtained Ia m iron mine.
situated about three miles from Man
dragon. IN the Basque provinces
Victorious swordi Thy blade Is Of
Mandragon. aud thon vast tempered At
Toledo.
According 10 Palomeus. a Toledan
sword-maker of the last century. il Is an
error to suppose that the Tnle,lans pre-
-tflNttt -ft-fftA~
ing Of their arms They we're ronl-
PEELED to- use the water If the Tag,is. a.
well as the fine white sand that the
river contains in it, led. The sand, tt,
the experts, served for the operation pf
what they termed refrescdr if caid {. Ia
cool the heat; for when the metal be-
came red. aud commenced to throw on
sparks. the est a lcrps instantly sprinklesl
il with this sand. The blade formed.
they proceeded to temper il in the fnl-
lowing minner:. Part of the middle OF
the fire was followed out- and in tlir
hollow was placed the blade. So tliai
four-lifths ~ il ouly was exposed to the.
fire. the tongue aud liilt re ting outside.
The blade having become cherry real.
they plunged the point into a wooden
reservoir full of the water of the Tagus:
and havingonee cooled il. they straight
ened IL ;is much n was desirable. They
then subjected such Of the blade as had
not hitherto been exposed - the IRE:
and WHEN it commenced to redden.
they took il hy the tongue with red-hot
pinchcrs. and plunged il into sheep suet
until it cooled. an operation which i'm
parted temper to it.
The most ancient Toletlan espadero,
or swor,l-maker. of whom mention l.
made. is Julian. surnamed Ell Moro. or
the Moor. on account of his coming
from Granada. where he worked toward
the eud of the fifteenth century for King
! Boabdil They also surnamed him
Julian del Ray. because upon his con-
version to Christianity. had for god
father no less illnstrious persona se
than Ferdinand. the Catholic
Having hired conveyance drawn by
a pair Of gayly eapari>oned mules, the
driver wearing 4 pOrk-pie hat aud y
bloOd-red sash. was driven ont to the
| Fdbrica de .irmas. which is situated on
1 the right bank of the Tagns. abpu. a
mile aud a half outside of the city walls
This solemanufaetory Of Toledan blades
Is very unpretentious building of rec
tangular form. completed. as the in
scription over the entrance informed
me. in 1880. Charles Ill. who ma,le
so many efforts to encourage Spanish
manufacture. resolved upon reyivifving
the ancient craft Of the espaderos. and
constructed the factory. So low had
the reputation of the roleslan eSpaderos
fallen. that the king was compelled to
send to Valencia for maker of swords,
Luis Calisto. whom he appointed di-
rector of the works.
A very polite. mutton-chop whiskeresl
official escorted me over the works :
for this manufaetary is to-day used in
the fabrication of arms for the army
and explained the process for sword
making in use at present. The ancient
mode Of manufacture has been aban-
doned. both rs regards forging a~l
tempering, whilst the iren now employed
comes from Germany. The sand of the
Tagus is no longer used, and the sheep
suet is feplaced by soap. However. the
arms still turned out are of excellent
quality, and in the Sdid dc pruentas. OF
proof-room. had the satisfaction ol
testing blades that rolled themselves
several times upon themselves like ser
pents. and that sprang into straightnes'
in flash.
But that which has been lost is the
form and elegance. i invested in q
blade. as i'm duty bound. paying, there
for. about twenty-three dollars, but i
is no longer in Toledo that the gooc
blades are found; they are snapped vi
by museums and by collectors. the pc
rilio fetching up to two hundred ant
fifty dollars. My bachelor friend is en-
! chanted with his blade. He has .sus
pended it from the ceiling, and care
fully avoid that portion of the room owe
which. like the sword of Damocles, it 81
threateningly hangs. = Nugem Robin
son. in Youths Companion.
Gold leaf is cut by placing it on
fiat clean leather pad. pressing it yer.
gently and saving with perfect.
straight-edged clean knife or split cane
The best Dutch metal may replace til
gold leaf if perfectly smooth. Tae Dutcl
metal may be cut between paper b
. close-shearing scissors with such lon
blades that each cut is. made with on
motion.
john HaIrigan and his rope hav
become famous in San Francisco. Wit
the same piece of rope John has pulle
twenty-eight people out of the water j
the last three years. His best day
work in this line was done about yea
ago, when he fished three children an
l & Al,